This article is first published in
IPA Journal - Phalaenopsis - Winter 2003 issue.

IRVING, Texas - Many of you know
that Phalaenopsis is my favorite orchid genus. Through the years I have
built a collection of more than 2,000 Phalaenopsis, with an emphasis on
diversity and a focus on Phalaenopsis gigantea and its hybrids.

Phalaenopsis
gigantea is native to Borneo and was described in 1909. Named for its
gigantic leaves that easily exceed 60 centimeters in cultivation,
Phalaenopsis gigantea is the largest Phalaenopsis species. The
massive leaves are pendent, leathery, broadly rounded, pale silver green and
shiny on both surfaces. So impressive in size, how does Phal. gigantea
measure up in other aspects to the rest of the species in the genus?

Phal. gigantea arguably is
the best Phalaenopsis species to use to produce award-winning hybrids. In
this article I will introduce you to the reasons it is so prolific. I will
also describe my experience with the culture of this fascinating species and
tell you why Phal. gigantea is not as difficult to grow as we are
often told.

To date, Phal. gigantea is
used in 140 first-generation hybrids and is in the background of 1,187
hybrids going back seven generations, with more than 500 plants awarded.

A good example of a recently
awarded Phal. gigantea hybrid is Phalaenopsis Perfection Is 'Chen',
FCC/AOS. What makes this an award-winning Phal. gigantea hybrid? As
much as I would like to tell you my opinion of what's hot and what's not,
let us first discuss what we look for in a Phal. gigantea flower and
what contributions it passes to its progeny. By the end of this article, I
hope you will see what makes Phal. gigantea shine as a parent in
today's modern Phalaenopsis hybridizing.

A
typical Phal. gigantea flower has a natural spread of about five
centimeters. The flowers tend to have a cream background with varying
degrees of green around the column. The flowers are noted for full and round
segments that are about equal in size, are usually overlapping and have
raised red-brown spots or blotches you can feel with your fingers.

Mature, specimen-size plants are
capable of producing hundreds of flowers on pendent, branching
inflorescences reaching 40 centimeters. I can imagine how AOS judges would
have been wowed by 139 flowers and 81 buds on six multi-branched
inflorescences of Phal. gigantea 'Laurie Weltz' when it was awarded a
CCM/AOS in 1993 at the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show.

To date, there are 36 quality
awards to Phal. gigantea. An awarded Phal. gigantea should
have large, flat flowers with the flower count depending on the age of the
plant. All segments should be full, round, well proportionate and
overlapping. The clarity of markings on the flowers should be distinct and
vibrant. The texture should be waxy and the substance heavy.

The largest Phal. gigantea
flower on record belongs to the clone 'Valle Giant', which had a 6.5
centimeter natural spread and 20 flowers when it was awarded an AM/AOS in
1996 at the Mid-Atlantic Center monthly judging. The recently awarded clone
'Beaudreaux' garnered an AM/AOS and a CCM/AOS and had "fifty-six flowers and
one bud symmetrically arranged on three arched inflorescences, substance
waxy, texture glossy" when it was awarded at the Middle Tennessee Orchid
Society Show in 2000.

As you can see, Phal. gigantea
has several desirable traits judges are looking for in an awardable flower.
We use a good Phal. gigantea in hybridizing to produce spotted
flowers that have good substance, glossy texture, round shape and full
segments. Quoting Bill Livingston, Phal. gigantea's hybrids "are
quite colorful and very smog resistant because of the heavy substance of the
flowers. They will breed rather easily, generally producing very
pretty flowers, especially if they were hybridized with highly colored
clones." No wonder Phal. gigantea is in the background of many of the
Taiwanese novelty hybrids.

They started a number of years ago
with selected hybrids and used these to produce some really wonderful
spotted hybrids, commonly known as Taiwanese spots. This newest trend in
Phalaenopsis breeding is different from the French spots, which feature the
breeding line of another Phalaenopsis species, Phal. stuartiana.

The key differences between
Taiwanese and French spots are that Taiwanese spots have smaller flowers
than the French spots but larger and brighter spots with some so heavily
spotted the flowers are almost a solid color.

French spots have larger flowers
than the Taiwanese spots with many fine lavender spots, but the flower
substance is often average. Taiwanese spots have heavy substance as a result
of the Phal. gigantea influence. Good substance is an important
attribute for producing long-lasting flowers.

Another reason for Phal. gigantea's popularity in producing novelty
hybrids is that Phal. gigantea breeds easily with most colorful
Phalaenopsis species such as Phal. amboinensis, Phal. bellina, Phal.
violacea and Phal. lueddemanniana, as well as their hybrids. The round form
of Phal. gigantea flowers typically comes through in the next few
generations of their progeny. Hybridizers desire the round form to
compliment the starry shape of the colorful summer-blooming species.

My favorite primary hybrid using
Phal. gigantea as a parent is Phal. Mok Choi Yew. Phal. Mok Choi Yew
(x violacea) was registered in 1968. To date this wonderful hybrid has won
five AOS quality awards ? two AM/AOS, two HCC/AOS and one JC. Phal. Mok Choi
Yew was awarded its first AM/AOS to the clone 'Ponkan' in 1981, which had
three flowers the judging team described as well-arranged, "chartreuse,
heavily spotted with magenta: inner halves of lateral sepals and labellum
nearly solid purple" and with "excellent substance and texture."

Consistent with expectations of a
good Phal. gigantea hybrid, other clones are praised for "substance
cardboard-like", "wonderful sheen" and "texture waxy." But three flowers to
an awarded plant? Does using Phal. violacea as a parent bring down flower
count and dominate Phal. gigantea's multiflora trait?

In 1999, I was pleased to have the
clone 'Peter Lin' awarded an AM/AOS with 11 flowers and 12 buds on three
inflorescences and the clone 'Big Leaf Orchid' awarded a JC with 15 flowers
and five buds on two branched inflorescences.

I believe that of all the awarded
plants of Phal. Mok Choi Yew, Phal. bellina was used as a parent rather than
Phal. violacea. I have seen Phal. Mok Choi Yew when it was made with Phal.
violacea, and the result is not as good as the awarded ones using Phal.
bellina. (At the time when these plants were awarded, there was no
distinction between the two species.) This reasoning is based on the award
descriptions referring to "inner halves of lateral sepals and labellum
nearly solid purple" ? which is a trait of Phal. bellina, not Phal.
violacea, which has solid color. In addition, Phal. bellina tends to have
rounder segments and better form.

One desirable trait I like about
Phal. gigantea is its citrus fragrance, described as "sweetly
fragrant" by Eric A. Christenson. Because fragrance is not included in
orchid judging, there is often little or no documentation on fragrance. The
clone 'Big Leaf Orchid' earned a Judges' Commendation for "plant size and
floriferousness" and was noted for its "citrus fragrance." Those of you who
are a fan of fragrant Phalaenopsis can see why I favor Mok Choi Yew.

Another
credit to Phal. Mok Choi Yew is that to date it is used in 21
first-generation hybrids and is in the background of 35 hybrids going back
three generations, with as many as 14 plants awarded." My favorites are
Phal. Formosa San Fan (x Misty Green), Phal. Orchidview Headliner (x Misty
Green), and Phal. Razzmatazz (x Golden Gift).
<Photo: Phal. Formosa San Fan 'Nobby' >

Phal. Formosa San Fan is made by
combining Phal. Mok Choi Yew with another superstar parent, Phal. Misty
Green. Most of us desire large flowers. Hybridizers aim to make bigger and
brighter flowers than their predecessors. Such is the case of taking the
six-centimeter flower of Phal. Mok Choi Yew with the more than
nine-centimeter flower of Phal. Misty Green to make Phal. Formosa San Fan.
The very colorful clone 'Sun Moon Beauty' was awarded in 1994. Its 7.6
centimeter natural spread flower is described as an 'extremely flat, round',
'flower background ivory, heavily overlaid with magenta spots in a mosaic
pattern; inner halves of lateral sepals with deep violet wash' with
cardboard substance and iridescent texture.

My favorite clone of Phal. Formosa
San Fan is 'Nobby.' It produces large flowers that are relatively flat. Like
its parents, Phal. Formosa San Fan also has a strong sweet fragrance which
must be experienced to be appreciated.

Another one of my favorites is
Phal. Orchidview Headliner, made by H.P. Norton from Monck's Corner, S.C.,
using Phal. Mok Choi Yew 'Ponkan' and Hausermann's Goldcup. H.P. took a
well-known yellow breeder to add more color to Phal. Mok Choi Yew. To date
there are seven awarded clones of Phal. Orchidview Headliner. I like them
for their well-formed and fragrant flowers, their multicolor appearance
resulting from the effect of fine magenta spots overlaid on yellow-gold,
satiny texture, and hard substance. The clone 'Sunshine' was awarded an
AM/AOS in 1994 for 'Eleven flowers evenly spaced and well-displayed on two
inflorescences', 'color yellow-gold, uniformly overlaid with find
rose-burgundy dots', and texture that is semi glossy.

I liked Phal. Orchidview Headliner
so much that I talked H.P. into letting me keep 15 plants from the original
cross. H.P. is still waiting for me to grow them better so they will receive
the AOS Award of Quality. In due time, I intend to carry on H.P.'s good work
with making more hybrids with Phal. Orchidview Headliner. Already we have
seen good results in Phal. Swamp Fox (x Julia Wilson) registered by H.P. in
1997. The clone 'Big Al' received an AM/AOS in 1997 with three 'full, round,
well-balanced' ruby red flowers that have heavy substance and waxy texture.
Phal. Francis Marion (x Super Stupid), also registered by H.P. in 1997,
produces a clone such as 'Orchidview' that shows how Phal. gigantea
can really enhance the color of its hybrid.

One primary hybrid of Phal. gigantea worth
mentioning is Phal. Joey, which is made with Phal. lueddemanniana, a species
well known for making red Phalaenopsis. Although it does not have an awarded
clone, Phal. Joey produced 34 hybrids with 19 awarded plants. My favorite
clones of Phal Joey are 'Huey Fong' and 'Huey Fong #10'. These are good
examples of Phal. gigantea hybrids because of their full and
overlapping segments. The color of Phal. 'Huey Fong #10' is intensified as a
result of the contribution from Phal. lueddemanniana. I especially like the
waxy look of the bold red patterns that shine under light.

In
Phalaenopsis - A Monograph, Christenson talks about the variety aurea of
Phal. gigantea that "has a brighter yellow ground color throughout the
sepals and petals (including the area surrounding the column)." This yellow
form of Phal. gigantea is recognized for its significance to
horticulture. Per Chirstenson, 'the yellow ground color of var. aurea is
inherited and produces very different looking progeny,' such that Phal.
Marion Fowler (Zada x Phal. gigantea) produces vibrant raspberry
flowers from the overlay of purple on yellow.

Unfortunately, this golden yellow
Phal. gigantea is not readily available in the trade. In my search
for a yellow Phal. gigantea, I know only a couple of growers who own
one. To my dismay they are not ready to part with one of their yellow
Phal. giganteas. Being rare, those who own a yellow Phal. gigantea
have made seedlings from selfings in hopes of preserving the yellow color
trait. It has been suggested by other hybridizers that yellow is recessive
and rarely comes through when combining Phal. gigantea with white
ground with yellow ground color.

So, we look
for other yellow Phalaenopsis species to create golden Phal. gigantea
hybrids. Hybridizers created Phal. David Lim (x Phal. amboinensis) in 1974
and Jade Gold (x Phal. venosa) in 1984. Of these two hybrids, I expect that
Phal. Jade Gold will prove itself to be a wonderful parent. Even though,
Phal. venosa is a relatively new Phalaenopsis species (it wasn't described
until 1983) it has already proven to be an important building block in
making yellow multiflora Phalaenopsis hybrids.

The most recently awarded Phal.
Jade Gold is 'Laura' in 1994. It was awarded an AM/AOS with 34 flowers on
four inflorescences. The flowers are described as 'bright butterscotch with
dark cordovan brown bars' with very heavy substance and varnished texture.

Another example of adding yellow
color to Phal. gigantea is Phal. Liu Tuen-Shen (x Golden Sands) by
Irene Dobkin in 1979. It is arguably the most important Phal. gigantea
hybrid. It just has to be made with the best yellow Phalaenopsis Golden
Sands 'Canary' FCC/AOS at that time. Four clones of Liu Tuen-Shen received
four quality awards and two cultural awards. The latest is 'Lillian Pitta'
with a CCM to Meir Moses of the Orchid Konnection in Dallas in 2000 for 27
yellow flowers with fine rust spots spaced evenly. Knowing that I collect
big Phal. gigantea plants, Meir let me keep his awarded plant. With
heavy substance, flowers easily last many months in my greenhouse.

To date, Phal. Liu Tuen-Shen has
74 hybrids to its credit. Out of these, 33 plants are awarded and carry on
Phal. Liu Tuen-Shen's legacy. For example, Phal. Fortune Buddha (x Golden
Buddha) has 58 hybrids and 33 plants are awarded. The best clone of Fortune
Buddha is 'Brennan's Orchids,' which won an AM/AOS in 1997 for four large
8.5 centimeters flowers. They are described as very full, intensely colored,
heavily overlaid with red-mahogany spots coalescing to solid red-mahogany
basally, substance heavy, and texture glossy. Most of these characteristics
exemplify the desired traits from having Phal. gigantea in the
background.

Outstanding progeny from Phal.
Fortune Buddha include Phal. Brother Zip (x Phal. venosa) registered in 1992
with four AOS awards, Phal. Brother Pirate King (x Brother Purple)
registered in 1998 with 15 AOS awards, and Phal. Brother Buddha (x Brother
angel) which went on to make today's modern hybrid Phal. Ambo Buddha (x
Phal. amboinensis) that has 20 AOS awards including an FCC to the clone
'Phoenix' in 2000. These outstanding hybrids inherit their good form, heavy
substance, and glossy texture from Phal. gigantea.

Finally, we
will look at the famous Phal. Golden Peoker (Misty Green x Liu Tuen-Shen),
another fine Phal. gigantea hybrid. Phal. Golden Peoker is already
well known and heavily used by Taiwanese hybridizers for its non-mutated
clone 'Brother'. Awarded an AM/AOS in 1991, Phal. Golden Peoker 'Brother' is
an outstanding plant with outstanding flowers. They have good form, round
segments, heavy substance, and sparkling texture. These desirable traits of
Phal. gigantea are readily inherited in the next generation. As a
parent, Phal. Golden Peoker also enhances the color of its progeny. All
these reasons make Phal. Golden Peoker 'Brother' the plant to have for
hybridizers.

Many plants have been cloned from
Phal. Golden Peoker 'Brother', which has resulted in a selected few clones
that are mutated. These clones caused quite a stir in the orchid world
because their new color, described as "dark, concord grape purple blotches,"
bring new direction for hybridizers. Phal. Golden Peoker 'Ever-Spring',
awarded a JC/AOS in 1996, is commended "as the origin of 'Harlequin'
spotting ? a new line producing progeny with clownish spots, blotches and
occasional near-solid colorations of unusual red and purple hues." Other
awarded clones of Phal. Golden Peoker include 'Nan-Cho', AM/AOS, 'S.J.', HCC/AOS,
and 'BL', HCC/AOS.

Those awarded clones are used to
make even more outstanding hybrids in Taiwan. Of the 62 registered Phal.
Golden Peoker hybrids, outstanding progeny and proven breeders include Phal.
Super Stupid (x Brother Yew), Phal. Ever-Spring King (x Chih Shang's
Stripes) and Phal. Brother Purple (x Brother Glamour), to name just a few.
It will take another article, such as "Harlequins - a look at the evolution
of those crazy spotted Phals" by Meir Moses of the Orchid Konnection in
Dallas in the last issue of the Phalaenopsis Journal, to describe a parade
of awarded Phal. Golden Peoker progeny such as Phal. Black Peoker (x Black
Beauty) with five awards, Phal. Bright Peacock (x Yungho Princess Gelb) with
two awards, Dtps. Ever-Spring Prince (x Dtps. Taisuco Beauty) with two
awards, Phal. Ever-Spring King (x Chih Shang's Stripes) with six awards,
Phal. Ever-Spring Light (x Ever Spring Star) with four awards, to name just
a few.

So, what qualities did the judges
see in Phal. Perfection Is 'Chen', FCC/CCE/AOS that are contributed by
Phal. gigantea? 'Chen' was first awarded an AM/AOS in 1999 for '18 very
full, flat flowers and eight buds on one inflorescence with three branches.'
In 2002, 'Chen' received an FCC and a CCE for being a spectacular plant with
'71 very round flowers of superlative quality for star-shaped novelty
lineage and 26 buds in near perfect presentation on 10 branched
inflorescences; sepals and petals yellow with near solid red overlay of
concentric bars.' The flowers have extremely firm substance and satiny
texture.

This clone without a doubt takes
after its Phal. gigantea heritage of having round, heavily patterned,
exceptionally floriferous flowers with heavy substance and shiny texture.
The negative features of Phal. gigantea's huge plant size and pendent
inflorescences are recessive in 'Chen'. This plant stays very compact and
has shiny round leaves. 'Chen' is a perfect Phalaenopsis, which makes
Phal. gigantea shine as a parent in today's modern Phalaenopsis
hybridizing.

By now I
hope that you are ready to pick up your toothpick and make new Phal.
gigantea hybrids. You should have many reasons to grow Phal. gigantea
. If so, read on. I will now describe my growing experience with this
fascinating species and tell you why Phal. gigantea is not as
difficult to grow as we are often told.

Phal. gigantea shares easy
cultural requirements similar to other Phalaenopsis species. I became
fascinated with Phal. gigantea when I took on the challenge that I
would not claim to be an experienced Phalaenopsis grower until I could bring
a Phal. gigantea to flower.

Intrigued by the stories of seeing
hundreds of flowers borne on a mature plant of Phal. gigantea with
its massive, silver-green, 'elephant-ear'-like leaves, I started to seek out
Phal. giganteas from different growers in the hope that one day I,
too, would own one. That was about nine years ago. Today, I have as many as
30 Phal. giganteas (from seedlings to large plants) growing side by
side with the rest of the 2000-plus Phalaenopsis in my greenhouse.

Christenson said that 'although
not difficult to grow, (gigantea) seedlings take significantly longer to
reach maturity than other species.' This unfortunate truth is what keeps
most commercial growers from stocking seed-grown Phal. gigantea
plants. As a result, Christenson said 'the demand for wild-collected mature
plants for horticultural trade has been and continues to be a problem.'

Most of the wild-collected
specimens perished because these plants could not support their large leaves
with their severed root mass still attached to the trees. Lacking a perfect
tropical-like environment, most of these collected plants will not recover.

To be successful in keeping
Phal. gigantea in cultivation, start off with a seed-grown plant or an
established plant from other growers. While Phal. gigantea does take
a long time to reach maturity in nature, I have found that seed-grown plants
significantly reduce the time to reach blooming when growing in an optimal
environment.

So,
how do I grow my Phal. giganteas and bring them to flower? Like many
orchids, growing Phal. gigantea begins with watering carefully. If I
start off with a healthy plant, I can keep it alive by avoiding getting
water on any part of the leaves. Compared to other Phalaenopsis species,
gigantea has a shorter stem that results in leaves with little or no space
between them. Water trapped between leaves from water splash, overhead
misting, and water condensation can lead to rot. Bacterial rot is especially
fatal to a monopodial epiphyte if developed in the crown ? the single
growing point of the plant.

When growing Phal. gigantea
in a pot, I like to tilt the pot at an angle so the leaves hang down and the
crown can drain any water that may be trapped. I try to water my plants
early in the morning so that any water left on the leaves will dry off
completely. I use a timer to turn off the humidifier by early afternoon. I
stopped using an overhead misting system to avoid the risk of having
moisture trapped between the leaves. I use ceiling and box fans to provide
good air circulation and constant air movement through the long leaves to
help dry off water left on the leaves.

When I must water my plants on
cloudy days, I use an air compressor with high air flow to blow off any
water trapped between the leaves. I used to take a tissue paper to soak up
water in the crown. That is very time consuming with a larger collection.
Other growers have success with spraying fungicide after watering to prevent
rot on cloudy or raining days; I like to avoid spraying chemicals. On cooler
days, I would turn up the heat to plants help dry off.

I find Phal. gigantea to be
tolerant of a wide range of temperatures. I keep my greenhouse between 60
and the high 80s F for economical reason. For the best results, I would like
to keep it between 70 and 83 F.

I fertilize Phal. gigantea
every time I water using a diluted fertilizer. On average I water my plants
once a week, so I would reduce the manufacturer's recommendation to one
quarter strength. While I let Phal. gigantea dry off between
watering, these are big plants with a large leaf area that requires lots of
water and food to keep up with their growth.

I
am growing Phal. gigantea in different ways to see what works best
for me and the plants. The larger plants are grown in a teak basket packed
with sphagnum moss. This method allows me to keep Phal. gigantea
undisturbed for many years without repotting. I either hang the basket on
the wall or tilt the basket at a 45 degree angel to allow the leaves to hang
down. I also have a few Phal. gigantea mounted on tree fern plaques
with sphagnum moss. Because the basket and tree fern are open and dry off
quicker that the pots, I have to keep up with watering more frequently.

Due to my busy schedule and to
provide an alternative for less frequent watering required by basket
culture, I have gone back to growing Phal. gigantea in plastic pots.
I use a coarse potting mix made of medium size fir bark, sponge rock, medium
size charcoal, and long fiber sphagnum moss. I tweak the ratio of potting
medium used depending on the root mass. To be successful, I want the pot to
almost completely dry off between watering.

I do not use clay pots because
plastic pots work better for me. It pays to be gentle and not to disturb the
roots if at all possible. Phal. gigantea needs its entire root system
to keep its big leaves hydrated. Repotting should be done during warmer
months when Phal. gigantea is in active growth.

In nature, Phal. gigantea
grows quite high in the trees. They receive brighter light than other
Phalaenopsis species. With this in mind, I keep Phal. gigantea high
in my growing area where they receive more light than other Phal species. A
tip from Ken Avant, a fellow enthusiast with a large Phal. gigantea
collection, is to provide the species with brighter light in the winter
months than other Phal. species. Christenson says in his book that for many
growers who report difficulty in flowering Phal. gigantea 'the cause
is usually insufficient light levels.'

Peter Lin is a former editor of
the IPA Newsletter and owner of Big Leaf Orchids. 4932 Longwood Court,
Irving, TX 75038.phal@bigleaforchids.com.

Peter
Lin's favoritePhal. gigantea hybrids

Here are a few of my favorite
Phal. gigantea hybrids. Perhaps you will find them easier to flower in
case your growing area is not suitable for flowering Phal. gigantea.